Belfast Agreement: Release of Desmond O'Hare

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In view of the release of Desmond O'Hare by the Irish Government, whether they have made an assessment of any increased risk to individuals in Northern Ireland; and what steps they have taken to mitigate any increased risk; and
	Whether they regard the release of Desmond O'Hare by the Irish Government as part of the policy of early release following the Belfast agreement; and whether that affects his potential arrest in Northern Ireland.

Lord Rooker: The offences allegedly committed by Mr Desmond O'Hare pre-date the Belfast agreement.
	Terrorist-related offences committed prior to the Belfast agreement are being progressed by the PSNI's historical enquiries team (HET). HET became operational in January 2006, with a remit to review all the deaths attributable to the Troubles.

Commission on Integration and Faith

Lord Ouseley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they intend to set up the proposed Commission on Integration and Faith; what its terms of reference will be; what it is the commission will achieve; who the members of the commission will be; and which department will be responsible for its operational oversight.

Baroness Andrews: The Department for Communities and Local Government will be the lead department.
	The Secretary of State expects to make an announcement about the way ahead before the Summer Recess. This announcement will include the proposed terms of reference and the process for appointing commissioners.

Defra: Nobel House

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How much water was used in Nobel House, headquarters of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in each of the past eight years.

Lord Rooker: Defra was created in 2001 and the data provided are from that time onwards.
	The water consumed at Defra's Nobel House building is set out in the table below, which gives figures used in the sustainable development in government (SDiG) return which benchmarks offices on the basis of consumption per head.
	
		
			 Year Consumption in cubic metres Occupants CU Mt per Head 
			 2001–02 5,000 522 10.54 
			 2002–03 6,254 582 10.75 
			 2003–04 6,359 525 12.11 
			 2004–05 5,159 574 8.99 
			 2005–06 8,544 773 11.05

Diabetes: Inhaled Insulin

Lord Roberts of Conwy: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they accept the National Institute for Clinical Excellence's preliminary advice against making inhaled insulin available as an alternative to daily injections of insulin for diabetic patients.

Lord Warner: The preliminary recommendation issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on the use of insulin inhalers—that inhaled insulin should not be recommended for the treatment of type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus, except in the context of clinical studies—is not final guidance to the National Health Service but a draft for consultation.
	NICE is an independent body and we trust it to produce clinical and cost-effective guidance to the NHS based on the latest available evidence and taking into account comments it receives during consultation.

Equality

Lord Ouseley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why, given that the Department for Communities and Local Government will have responsibility for equality policy with regard to race, faith, gender and sexual orientation, they have not given the department responsibility for co-ordinating all equality policy, including policy on disability and age; and
	Whether they expect the Department for Communities and Local Government to assume responsibility for all aspects of equality policy, including age and disability, when the Commission for Equality and Human Rights becomes operational.

Baroness Andrews: The Department for Communities and Local Government is responsible for co-ordinating core equalities policy, including sponsorship of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, and leading on the Discrimination Law Review.
	The Department for Work and Pensions has responsibility for a number of policy levers which are key to the participation of disabled and older people, and for these reasons lead responsibility for disability and age equality policy remains with that department.
	These levers include enabling people to find jobs, supporting people who are out of work, and providing security in retirement, as well as the cross-government disability strategy led by the Office for Disability Issues.
	Decisions about the machinery of government are the responsibility of the Prime Minister and are kept under constant review. It is too early to speculate on possible future changes.

Fair Trade

Lord Laird: asked the Chairman of Committees:
	Whether the House of Lords Refreshment Department has adopted the concept of fair trade in its purchasing policy.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: The Refreshment Department's purchasing policy for the supply of fair trade products is currently limited to tea, coffee and chocolate, which is used in all restaurant, cafeteria, bar and banqueting outlets. It is the intention to review further opportunities later in the year, when the new River Restaurant and Lords Bar opens, following the completion of the kitchen development project.

Fishing

Lady Saltoun of Abernethy: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How the €3.8 million fisheries budget of the European Union for 2007–13 will assist the United Kingdom fishing industry and conserve fish stocks.

Lord Rooker: The total EU budget for the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) 2007–13 is €3,849 million. This will provide grants for the sustainable development of the fisheries sector as set out in the UK's national strategic plan for fisheries, and an operational programme, which will be submitted to the European Commission.
	A first draft of the UK national strategic plan for fisheries has been drawn up by all four UK fisheries administrations. This reflects the Government's aim of a sustainable and profitable fishing sector, which supports strong local communities. We have recently consulted on the draft plan, and a summary of responses is available on the Defra website at www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/fish-strategy/index.htm.
	Once the EFF regulation is agreed we will formally consult on a draft operational programme.

Hearing Impairment

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many people in Northern Ireland are recognised as being (a) profoundly deaf; (b) deaf; or (c) hearing impaired.

Lord Rooker: Information on the number of people recognised as being (a) profoundly deaf (b) deaf or (c) hearing impaired is not centrally collected. However, figures from the Continuous Household Survey (CHS) in 2003-04 indicate that 15 per cent of the adult population suffer from hearing difficulties.

Hearing Impairment

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many front-line health service staff in Northern Ireland have received deaf awareness training.

Lord Rooker: Since the introduction of the Section 75 requirement of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), training records available indicate that 2,522 front-line staff have received specific deaf awareness training. A further 6,021 staff attended other training where deaf awareness training was included in the programme. A member of staff may have attended more than one programme. It should be noted that a number of trusts do not hold training records back to 1998.

Hearing Impairment

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many health trusts within the health services in Northern Ireland currently offer deaf awareness training.

Lord Rooker: All trusts in the health and personal social services currently provide deaf awareness training either as a specific training course or as part of disability awareness training.

Hearing Impairment

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many general practitioners in Northern Ireland have received deaf awareness training.

Lord Rooker: The Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency (NIMDTA) provides postgraduate training to general practitioners. From 2004, deaf awareness training has been included as part of training child health surveillance, disability awareness training and ear, nose and throat (ENT) courses. To date, 257 GPs have undertaken these courses. It should be noted that an individual GP may have attended more than one of the above courses.

Hearing Impairment

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What provision in Northern Ireland is made for the deaf and hearing impaired in (a) pre-school education; (b) primary education; (c) secondary education; and (d) further education.

Lord Rooker: Pupils of primary or post-primary age without significant hearing impairment have provision made in mainstream schools or in special units attached to mainstream schools. Specialist teachers of the deaf provide support to children, parents and teachers in these settings. The education and library boards' hearing support services provide support to pre-school children in liaison with specialist clinics. Jordanstown Special School makes special educational provision for children with more severe hearing losses. This school uses total communication methods; that is to say, a mixture of speech, lip-reading and signing.
	The Department for Employment and Learning has put in place a range of initiatives to assist colleges to discharge their responsibility towards all students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, including the deaf and hearing impaired. The initiatives include enhanced funding under the further education funding formula, support for staff development activities and the additional support fund, which provides financial assistance towards the costs of technical or carer support.

Hearing Impairment

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In Northern Ireland, how many full-time deaf teachers are employed in (a) pre-school education; (b) primary education; (c) secondary education; and (d) further education.

Lord Rooker: The equal opportunities officers in the education and library boards, which employ teachers, have advised that, since 1997, all applicants are asked to include any information regarding disabilities on their application forms, and hearing is included as a category. They do not, however, hold specific information on how many current teaching staff have a hearing impairment, hearing difficulties or are deaf.
	The further education colleges have advised that there are no full-time deaf teachers in FE colleges. There are 27 part-time deaf teachers and eight teachers with hearing impairments, three of whom are part time.

Hearing Impairment

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	From what categories of public service in Northern Ireland deaf people are excluded.

Lord Rooker: Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 there are no categories of public service in Northern Ireland from which deaf people are excluded from employment. All occupations are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act with the sole exception of people employed in the Armed Forces. The law applies to all aspects of employment—recruitment and selection, promotion, redundancy or dismissal.

Medicines: Animal Testing

Baroness Greenfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many drug products currently approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency have not been tested on animals at some point in their research or development; and what proportion of approved drug products this figure represents.

Lord Warner: All approved medicinal products have been tested on animals or refer to supportive data which have been generated from animal testing at some point. While the marketing authorisation applications for a large number of generic medicinal products will not, in themselves, be supported by animal test data, they do rely on animal test data previously provided by the originator for the products.

NHS: Drug Tariff Part IX

Earl Howe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In what ways the proposed changes to Part IX of the Drug Tariff will be amended in the light of the responses to the recent consultation on the issue; and
	Whether reform of Part IX of the Drug Tariff will be completed in a single stage as favoured by the majority of correspondents to the consultation on the issue.

Lord Warner: The consultation on Part IX of the Drug Tariff closed in January 2006. Following that initial consultation, the Department of Health decided to adopt a relevant approach for each category. Therefore, the work is proceeding as follows:
	Incontinence and Stoma Appliances 
	The department is having further discussions with industry to identify how best to achieve transparency between item price and service costs in each of these areas.
	At the same time, it will explore with the National Health Service, patient groups and industry how to ensure that those contractors that provide valued services are fairly remunerated for the services they provide, that patient care is maintained and that the NHS secures value for money.
	Reagents and Dressings 
	In relation to reagents and dressings, the department is consulting with the market again. This consultation, which was published on Monday, 8 May 2006, covers a sub-set of dressings and a sub-set of reagents in Part IX of the Drug Tariff. This consultation document can be found on the department's website at www.dh.gov.uk·liveconsultations.
	Once these periods of discussion and consultation have been completed, the department will be able to take a view on whether further changes need to be explored.

NHS: Drug Tariff Part IX

Earl Howe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether reform of Part IX of the Drug Tariff will promote patient safety and choice more successfully than the status quo; and, if so, why.

Lord Warner: The initial consultation stated that a key objective was to maintain and, where applicable, improve the current quality of care to patients.
	This continues to be the Department of Health's objective as it enters into further consultation regarding some dressings and some reagents, and discussions relating to incontinence and stoma appliances.
	No decisions will be taken that compromise patient safety.

NHS: Drug Tariff Part IX

Earl Howe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they will take to promote innovation as part of the review of Part IX of the Drug Tariff.

Lord Warner: The Department of Health is undertaking further consultation and discussions with stakeholders. No decisions have yet been reached.

Parliamentary Ombudsman

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 29 March (WA 126), on how many occasions since 1997, and in respect of which specific recommendations, the Government Office for the Regions has refused or omitted to give effect to the recommendations of the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

Baroness Andrews: Information available in the Department for Communities and Local Government of specific cases that concern government offices show they have not refused or omitted to give effect to the recommendations of the Parliamentary Ombudsman, either concerning complaints about administrative practices, service delivery or complaints made under the code of practice on access to government information.
	The Department for Communities and Local Government holds no comprehensive central information on the status of all ombudsman cases in other government departments involving, or partly involving, government offices. That information would be available only at disproportionate cost.

Peace Funding: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 10 May (WA 140) concerning peace funding, who selected the panel to select the funding groups; on what basis; who was selected; and what qualifications they had.

Lord Rooker: The Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), in its role as Peace II managing authority, selected the panels, working in close consultation with the Department of Finance and Personnel and the Department of Finance in Ireland. The individual panel members were appointed on account of grade and experience, and were on the basis of these criteria judged to be suitably qualified. The previous Answer referred to, WA 140, detailed who was selected.

Peace Protesters

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Under which Acts peace protesters can be arrested for conducting a non-violent protest.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: General controls on demonstrations are contained in the Public Order Act 1986, which allows the police to place conditions on processions and assemblies in certain circumstances. There are other controls on demonstrations. For example, Section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 makes it an offence to trespass on a designated site. Under Section 137 of the Highways Act it is an offence to wilfully obstruct the highway. It is an offence under Section 132 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act to organise, take part in or carry on a demonstration in a public place in the vicinity of Parliament without prior authorisation from the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. Those who commit these offences are liable to arrest.

Police: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many staff are employed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland by rank; what positions are undersubscribed and oversubscribed; and how many reserve officers are currently employed.

Lord Rooker: The table below shows the breakdown of officers employed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland by rank, and includes actual strength against establishment. Due to the detail involved, a copy of a similar table on support/civilian staff has been placed in the Library.
	
		
			 Rank Establishment Actual Variance 
			 Chief Constable 1.00 1.00  
			 Deputy Chief Constable 1.00 1.00  
			 Assistant Chief Constable 5.00 6.00 1.00 
			 Chief Superintendent 23.00 24.00 1.00 
			 Superintendent 68.00 94.00 26.00 
			 Superintendent 104.00 67.50 -36.50 
			 Inspector 433.00 444.00 11.00 
			 Sergeant 1150.00 1146.00 -4.00 
			 Constable 5715.00 5487.00 -228.00 
			 Student Officers  291.00 291.00 
			 Total PSNI 7500.00 7561.50 61.50 
			 PSNI full-time reserve 680.00 953.75 273.75 
			 PSNI Constable part-time 2500.00 791.00 -1709.00

Police: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was the average payment, in addition to the statutory redundancy and pension entitlement, made to those members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Police Service of Northern Ireland who have left the service under the Patten report scheme.

Lord Rooker: The average severance payment up to 31 March 2006 was £73,328 for regular officers and £64,365 for full-time reserve officers.
	There is no statutory redundancy scheme within the PSNI pension scheme, upon which the terms of the severance scheme are based, so the figure quoted represents the average severance amount paid before income tax is charged.

Residential Homes

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In the past five years for which figures are available, how much funding has been provided to the various classifications of residential homes in Northern Ireland.

Lord Rooker: The information requested is shown in the table below for the latest three years. For the previous two years the information was collected in a different way (for example, excluding administration costs) and figures are not comparable.
	
		Analysis of total Northern Ireland expenditure on nursing homes and residential homes for 2002–03 to 2004–06
		
			  2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
			  £'000 £'000 £'000 
			 PoC 3: Family and Child Care  
			 Children's Homes
			 Statutory 18,019 21,063 24,209 
			 Independent 3,788 4,062 3,482 
			 Total PoC 3 21,807 25,125 27,691 
			 PoC 4: Elderly Care
			 Nursing Homes
			 Statutory 593 0 0 
			 Independent 131,287 143,837 152,962 
			 Residential Homes
			 Statutory 38,584 38,508 41,163 
			 Independent 27,975 26,979 29,355 
			 Total PoC 4 198,440 210,404 223,480 
			 PoC 5: Mental Health
			 Nursing Homes
			 Statutory 0 0 0 
			 Independent 5,400 5,903 6,124 
			 Residential Homes
			 Statutory 3,960 3,277 3,281 
			 Independent 6,537 5,989 6,286 
			 Total PoC 5 15,898 15,169 15,691 
			 PoC 6: Learning Disability
			 Nursing Homes
			 Statutory 0 0 0 
			 Independent 13,670 17,145 18,925 
			 Residential Homes
			 Statutory 11,373 9,448 9,777 
			 Independent 18,684 20,312 20,700 
			 Total PoC 6 43,727 46,905 49,402 
			 PoC 7: Physical and Sensory Disability 
			  
			 Nursing Homes
			 Statutory 0 0 0 
			 Independent 8,611 7,535 8,214 
			 Residential Homes
			 Statutory 331 410 427 
			 Independent 2,851 2,683 2,282 
			 Total PoC 7 11,793 10,629 10,833 
			 PoC 9: Primary Health and Adult Community 
			  
			 Nursing Homes
			 Statutory 0 0 0 
			 Independent 297 272 320 
			 Residential Homes
			 Statutory 0 0 0 
			 Independent 101 378 314 
			 Total PoC 9 398 650 634 
			 Northern Ireland Total 292,061 308,882 327,731

Sign Language

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether basic sign language is included in the educational curriculum in Northern Ireland at any level; and, if not, for what reason it is excluded from the curriculum.

Lord Rooker: There is no formal requirement for schools to offer sign language courses, though some do as an extra-curricular option. The revised curriculum provides flexibility for schools to teach sign language as part of the cross-curricular skill of communication, and the language and literacy area of learning. In addition, the CCEA's plans for 2006–07 include working with relevant organisations to make the revised curriculum more accessible for those with a range of special needs, including those who are hearing-impaired.

Tourism: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 17 May (WA 55–6) concerning the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, what is the board's policy towards the use of the word "Derry"; and why it was used in the Answer.

Lord Rooker: The practice of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITS) reflects customer needs inside and outside Northern Ireland and considerations under equality legislation. In correspondence, NITS responses mirror the form used by the person corresponding with it. It is also important that the name used is understandable to the widest range of potential visitors in as clear and simple a way as possible. As visitors may be familiar with either the name "Londonderry" or "Derry" NITS publications and website contain both names so that people searching for either Derry or Londonderry will be able to access the same information.
	In relation to the specific use of "Derry" in the Written Answer provided to the noble Lord on 17 May 2006 (WA 55–6):
	White Horse Spa and Leisure Centre, Derry: the name Derry reflects the usage recorded on the company's own stationery.
	The Walled City of Derry—Armada Exhibition, Tower Museum: this is the branded name of the Walled City of Derry Signature Project.
	Foyle Marine Tourism (Derry City Council): this is the official name of the city council.

Tuberculosis: Tests

Earl Howe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What communications they have had with representatives of Statens Serum Institut in the past year; and whether those discussions included the licensing arrangements for the purified protein derivative currently used without a licence in National Health Service skin testing for tuberculosis.

Lord Warner: Officials from the Department of Health, together with the NHS Purchasing and Supplies Agency, have held meetings with Statens Serum Institut to consider the viability of an application for a marketing authorisation for purified protein derivative solutions, for use in testing for tuberculosis.

Ulster-Scots Agency

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 17 May (WA 51) concerning funding for the Ulster-Scots Agency, whether the agency has been informed about a possible increase in its budget in 2007; if so, by how much it will increase; and on what basis the increase will be made.

Lord Rooker: The 2007 budget for the Ulster-Scots Agency will be determined in accordance with normal budgeting procedures on the basis of its draft business plan as set out in the North/South Language Body financial memorandum. This will include consultation between the Ulster-Scots Agency and its sponsor departments, and with the finance departments north and south.

Waste Management

Lord Vinson: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bach on 2 May (WA 62), how they would define the "quantity of concentrations" and pollution that would trigger a £5,000 penalty under the European Union waste directive for those households who burn plastic waste.

Lord Rooker: Section 29(5) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 defines "harm" caused by the "quantity or concentrations" of substances or articles constituting or resulting from waste as,
	"harm to the health of living organisms or other interference with the ecological systems of which they form part and in the case of man includes offence to any of his senses or harm to his property".
	The unlawful disposal of waste, including burning plastic waste illegally, is a serious offence. The Government are encouraging waste producers to focus on more pro-active measures such as waste minimisation and recycling.
	Householders that burn household plastic waste within the curtilage of their dwelling may be committing an offence under Section 33 of the 1990 Act. The local authority would decide whether to prosecute under this section, and if a householder was convicted it would be for the court to decide the level of fine, depending on the severity of the offence, up to a maximum of £5,000.

Water Supply

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the answers by the Lord Bach on 2 May (HL col. 396), what is the total sum so far spent on the various European water purification directives; and what is their estimate of the total sum necessary to repair the problems with water infrastructure and supply in (a) Thames Water, and (b) the rest of the United Kingdom.

Lord Rooker: Water supply is a devolved matter, so I will confine my reply to England and Wales, which use the same regulatory frameworks.
	Since privatisation the water industry has continued to invest at high levels. This has totalled more than £55 billion (between 1990 and 2004–05) on capital investment in water and wastewater services. Around £26.5 billion of this is directly attributable to water quality improvements. However, because expenditure often meets multiple objectives it is not possible to distinguish expenditure needed to meet EU directives on quality of drinking water and wastewater from that needed to meet other national requirements.
	Ofwat has assumed in its determination of price limits that Thames Water will spend £1.6 billion on maintenance and repair of the water supply network and security of supply, over the five years between 2005 and 2010. This compares with a total of £4.7 billion assumed for the other water companies in England and Wales.

Waterways Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 22 March (WA 70) regarding the bulk purchase of chocolates by Waterways Ireland, how the discrepancy between the Answers of 1 March 2006 (WA 82) and 6 December 2005 (WA 98) can be accounted for against the record of the original minutes of the senior management group meeting.

Lord Rooker: I understand that my honourable friend the Minister of State for Northern Ireland (David Hanson) has written to you on this matter.
	All the papers relating to the purchase of chocolates at Waterways Ireland in 2002 and 2003 have been placed in the Library, and I have nothing further to add.

Waterways Ireland

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many of the employees in Waterways Ireland who claim no religious background came from employment in the Republic of Ireland.

Lord Rooker: I understand from Waterways Ireland that as at 8 May 2006 the body has 88 employees based in Northern Ireland. Of these 30 have a Protestant community background, 52 a Roman Catholic background and six have provided no community background information. This represents 59 per cent Roman Catholic, 34 per cent Protestant and 7 per cent others. Of the six employees who provided no community background one came from employment in the Republic of Ireland.